Travis Kalanick resigned as the CEO of Uber on Tuesday.
Uber board member and investor Bill Gurley said Travis Kalanick, the chief executive of the ride-hailing service who resigned on Tuesday, would have a “lasting impact on the world”, giving praise to the entrepreneur who has courted controversy.
According to the New York Times, five of Uber’s major investors demanded Kalanick resign immediately.
“Travis has always put Uber first. This is a bold decision and a sign of his devotion and love for Uber. By stepping away, he’s taking the time to heal from his personal tragedy while giving the company room to fully embrace this new chapter in Uber’s history. We look forward to continuing to serve with him on the board, ” according to a statement from the Uber board sent to CNBC.
One of the investors who pushed Kalanick to resign was venture capital firm Benchmark, where Gurley is a partner.
But the investor came out late Tuesday to talk up Kalanick’s impact on the world with Uber, saying that “many pages in the history books” will be devoted to the entrepreneur.
Benchmark was an early investor in Uber. In February, it poured $11 million into the company at a $60 million valuation, according to Crunchbase data.
Before the announcement of Kalanick’s resignation, other investors had also signaled their support for the departing CEO.
Mitchell Green of Lead Edge Capital told CNBC recently that he thinks Kalanick should stay at the firm, but maybe not as CEO.
“I think Travis [Kalanick] should stay at the company, ” Green told CNBC’s “Squawk Alley” earlier this month. “I don’t know if it should be in the CEO role. But he is a visionary. He has built an enormous business that is changing the way people live.”.
Uber has been through a series of scandals from the revelation of sexual harassment in the workplace, to an intellectual property lawsuit with Google’s driverless car unit Waymo. The company ordered an investigation into the sexual harassment claims which was led by former U. S. Attorney General Eric Holder, in a bid to reform its culture.
